Valve control



Jan. 9, 1940. 'mEGER 2,186,497

VALVE CONTROL Filed Jan. 13, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig-.1 TV

Z9! 24" 23 a? I mga Attorneys I Jan. 9, 1940. w. RIEGER VALVE CONTROL 4 sheets sheet 2 Filed Jan. 13, 1938 w. RIEGER VALVE CONTROL Jan. 9, 1940.

Filed Jan. 13, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Wf/he/m R/e yer Attorneys.

Jan. '9, 1940. w, RIEGER 2,186,497

VALVE CONTROL Filed Jan. 13, 1 938 4 Shee ts-Sheet 4 lnventonttorng/s; M

Patented Jan. 9, 1940 YVAVLYE aco v'rlton. g v lhelm-Review eeeeewnw This invention relates-to -valve-:-control mech anis'ms, and particularly relatesto =afmechanijs'm for changing the setting of-the' -valves to cause a reversal of an engine, such as ;a'steam engine,

without using the' large and 'numerous parts heretofore used in valve: control mechanisms; j- In' the prior'art, the movement of the"=link,-to which the valve'stems are connected, is usually produced by the action of two moving eccentrics tua'ted by two rods driven by. ec'centricsf thel'ink isrquite' large and the 'mechanism"is constructed' of heavypar'ts. 1 Because of the larg masse'sf'in cluded in the link and the rods attached thereto,

- it is'difiicult to use this construction 'inva' high speed machine; and likewise itf ls difficult to build a smallcompact machine:

It'is' therefore an object of this'invention to form a valvecontrol mechanism-"whichf' iszcompactly built and especially adapted to be used fcr high speed engines;

A" further object ofthisinvention is" to' provide: a link control for the setting ofthe'v'alves, which link is operated by but one rod connected-'to="'an n eccentric shaft? A further object of the-invention is to-construct a means for actuating the valves of an engine in which the adjustments for the setting of the valves to operate the engine in"reversex-'direction, and'the cut-oifposition'of such valves; are simultaneously made" by' the :same -control mechanism."

Thesefobjects are in. general accomplishedby providing a mechanism in which a'control shaft' operates 'to adjust the position'of'the link or the link'iblo'ck upon, and'controlled by,-a sirnulta= neous adjustment of" "the 'position"-of-the link; This results in a mechanism in which-thevalve may be changed from a position' for the forward running of the machine to a' position forarevers'e running of the machine, while, at "the sametime, maintaining the proper position of the valve for cut-off. To'effect this construction, OIleLel'ldfOf the linkmay be pivotally 'connected toaefixed point, and the..reciproeating:niotionimparted to;

ea-F1 thexlin k by.-.,adrive from the drive shaft. The

link lbl'ock is then-adjustably mounted within the link riandicontrolled by ameans which is regulated byi thesposition' of the eccentric shaft with respect to the .main drive shaft. Or one end 'of the linkmay be driven'from the eccentric shaft while the other end: of the link is m'ovably ad justable in accordance With-the position of the eccentricr'shaft with respect-to the main drive shaft-5T n Themeans by which these objects of the invention ware obtained are further described by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is affront elevational view of my control mechanism as applied to two valves. i ""Fig -2is an end elevational: view of Fig. 1.

Figrf-Bis':a'nfront'view of a modified form of the inventioni' I Figti iis'i'across-sectional:'view on the line Fig/.5 is a cross-sectional View on the line VV .'Figs. 6,2: '7 :and'8 -are diagrammatic views of thestructure as shown in Fig! 4, and show, ree

spectively,ithe position of the valve controlmech anism =1 to"'ope-rate the 7' engine in one direction,

Eigfi-G'y the-:mechanism'at neutral position, Fig.

7;?" ahdth'emechanisni'to"operatethe engine in reverse direction; Fig.8.: J

In-Figsfi 1 fand 2 :the main crankshaft. of an engine is shown at: :l ,"and mounted "adjacent and parallel thereto is aneccentri'cshaft which, inthe stru'cture"shown,' takes theform of a crankshaft 3.: Gears 2 'mountedonthe end of the shaft 1 andga stub shaft "3 operate' a difierentialgear system-14 whichxirives theeccentric't shaft 3 from main shaft-l; 'Bevel gear 4 is adjustably mountingwillvar'y' the angularpo'sitionof the eccentricfshaft 3*with respect, to the main shaft L Valve cylinders are shown at V,- said cylinders:

containing "any of 1 the conventional type inlet vvalves: Joined to these valves are valve stems i2.

. meme-4;;

and 'l3which'tarepivotally connected to connectingrodsL-Mand lirespectivelyJ The lower ends of "the. connecting rods are secured tolirik blocks links and. at the, otheriendsiarei-journal'ed upon there is formed an angular track composed of inclined legs a and I) connected by a leg 0. The

angular position of plate I8, and consequently of the curved track, depends upon the position of the casing 5, which position is determined by the rotation of hand-wheel 26 through worm gearing 21 and lever 28 which is connected to the casing and joined to gearing 21 by arm 29.

A bell-crank 2| pivotally mounted at has one end thereof fixed in the curved track of platel8 by means of a pin !9 slidablein said track.

The other end of the bell-crank is connected to.

a short arm 22, which, in turn, is connected to a lever 24. said lever 24 having its other end fixed to a shaft 23 at 24'. Shaft 23 is journaled .in bearings 23. Adjacent the links for each valve,

rods such as (note Figs. 1 and 2), fixed at one end to the shaft 23, are connected to the valve stems by means of intermediate rods I! pivoted to the valve stem at H. Thus a rotation of the shaft 23 will cause a displacement of the rod 15 and a consequently shifting of the link block H in the link 9.

This mechanism operates as follows:

By turning the hand-wheel 26, the casing 5 is rotated, and, likewise, through the intermediate bevel gear 4,, the angular position of the eccentric shaft 3 with respect to the main shaft l, is

changed. As the casing 5 is rotated, the plate I8 is likewise rotated and therefore the position of the pin IS in the curved track is changed, thus changing the angular position of the shaft 23, and consequently the position of the link block H in the link 9 (note Fig. 2). .uTherefore, assum-= ing that the engine has been driving in one direction with the pin H] at the end of the curved track in leg 0., as the pin is moved to the position shown" in Fig. 2, the valves are moved to neutral posi'-' tion, and as the pin l9 passes to the end of leg 12 the valves are set for the running of the engine in a reverse direction. This is accomplished by the simultaneous adjustment through the Iplane tary gear of the eccentric shaft 3, and therefore, the position of the link block in each link is the I same for both forward and reverse running of the engine, this being on the extreme left side of the link 9 in Fig. 2 for maximum opening andclosing positions of the valves, the degree of valveopening being varied between the right and-left hand positions of the block I l in link 9. Obviously, when the engine is reversed, the displacement of the valve is of equal quantity but of opposite phase.

The shape of the curved track in'plate I8 can be made so as to determine the inlet of the valves with great exactness, and with an inlet that always remains the same. The reciprocating movement of the link is accomplished by means of but one connecting rod, rather than the conventional two connection rods heretofore used, and the members need only be of relatively small size in order to accomplish their specific functions. Consequently, not only is the weight of the moving masses. reduced, but also a compact- 'tation of the engine.

ness of the machine is produced by the smallness of the members, and therefore an efficient high speed machine can be constructed. It is to be further noted that the links are pivoted to a fixed pivot at one end, and therefore they only need to be half the length of the conventional links, thus resulting in a saving of size and mass.

A structure in which the mechanism is further simplified, yet still obtaining the desired objects, is shown in" Figs. 3 to 8, inclusive. In this construction the link is fixed to movable pivots at both ends, one end of the link being given a reciprocal motion by means connected to the eccentric shaft, while the other end of the link is adjustable according to the direction of the ro- In this construction, the Valve stem does not have any pivotal member "connected between it and the link block, but it is directly pivotally connected to the link block and consequently always reciprocates along its axis.

In these figures, reference numerals I .to l3 indicate the corresponding parts shown in Figs. land 2. The eccentricshaft 3 is driven from the mainishaft I through intermediate gearing 2. The bevelgear 4' isrotatable with the casing 5 and fixes the position of the eccentric with respect to the main drive shaft. The rotation of casing 51s efiectedby means of a hand-wheel 36 which rotatesv a worm gearing 31 which, in turn, is fastened to, and rotates a shaft 39.

Abell-crank having arms 40 and 4| is fixed and movable by the shaft 39. A rod 42 joins the arm 4'], to the casing 5 at 43. Thus the bellcrank, on turning of the hand-wheel, will cause a rotation, of the casing 5.

To the other arm, of the bell-crank is joined a rod 44 which in turn is connected to a lever 35. Said lever 35 isfastened to shaft 34, which is rotatable'from the bell-crank through rod 44 and lever 35. M

.1 Therefore, as the hand-wheel 36 is turned, the casing 5 is'rotatedto displace angularly the eccentric shaft 3, and simultaneously therewith the shaft 34 is rotated.

Extending from shaft -39adjacent the links 8 and 9, are levers 32, 33 which are fixed at one end to the shaft 34 and are pivotally connected to the links at, their other ends. Thereupon movement of the shaft 34- will cause a movement of the links.

Valves contained in the valve cylinders V are givena reciprocal motion through valve stems l2 and I3, links 8 and 9, linkblocks llland H, and connecting rods and 3|, respectively, these connecting rods being journaled upon the eccentric shaft 3 at 6 and .1.

This mechanism operates in the following manner:

By turning a hand-wheel 36, the casing 5 is rotated, and thus the angular position of the eccentric shaft 3 is changed with respect to the main shaft l. At the same time, the shaft 34' is rotated and'the links 8 and 9 are shifted relative to the link blocks Ill and H through levers 33. In this manner, the setting of the valves may be shifted from the operation of the engine in a forward direction to'an operation of the engine in a reverse direction, but the inlet of the valves is maintained constant because of the simultaneous displacement of the shaft 34 with the displacement of the eccentric shaft 3.

Fig. 6 shows the position of the control mechanism for an assumed forward drive of the engine, the valve stem being in the position so that the steam portsareopen. In.Fig. '7 thehand-wheeL 36 has been rotated so that thevalves are brought to neutral position. In Fig. 3 the hand-wheel has been further rotated so that the valves are set for the reverse operation ofthe machine.

As shown in the variousfigures, each linkisgiven a reciprocating motion by means of but one connecting rod. Likewise, the mass of the ele-' ments may be made comparatively small, and a machine which is both compact and adapted for structed.

high speed operation may be favorably con- Having described the means by vvh ich'the ob jects of the invention are obtained, what I claim" as my invention is:

I claim:

l. A valve operating and reversing mecha nism comprising a valve having a. valve stem, a

link, a link'block, eccentric means for giving said link an oscillating movement, means for angularly displacing said eccentric means, and means for simultaneously adjusting the position of said link block with respect to said link upon said angular displacement;

2. A valve mechanism as in claim I, said ec a centric means comprising a crankshafaland said simultaneous adjusting means comprising a differential gearing connecting said crankshaft to comprising connecting said crankshaft to the other end of said link.

4. A valve control mechanism for a'reversible engine comprising a valve having a valve stem,

a link, a link block mounted'in said link andse cured to said valve stem, means toreverse the position ofsaicl link for a-reverse operation of said engine, and means controlled by said'reversing means to adjust simultaneously the position of said block in said link.

5. A valve control mechanism comprising a main crankshaft, an eccentric crankshafaa valve having a valve stem, a link, means connecting said link to said stem andto said eccentric cam-..

' I ing other end of said link. 1

shaft, differential gear means connecting said I crankshafts, and means for moving said differene 'tial gear means for angularly displacing said eccentric crankshaft with respect to-said main crankshaft andxfor'simultaneously adjusting th ,position of saidv'alve stem. v 6. A ,valvecontrol mechanism comprising a valve having a valve stem, a main crankshaft, g an eccentricicrankshait, a differential gear connecting 'saidfshafts, a rotatable casing for said gear adapted to rotate said eccentric crankshaft, a link connected to said 'valve,stem, m'eans connectingsaid link to said cra-nkshaftj and means controlled by the rotation of said casing to ad'- A just the position of said valve stem with respect to. said link. i

7.- A control mechanism as in claim 6, said said casing and havinga curvedtrack therein, 'a rod member pivotally connected at one end to said valve stem and pivotally connected *at the 7 controlled means comprising a plate fastened to p other end- 170 said link, and means guided in said member in said link upon movementcf said cascontrolled means comprising a, trackway movtrack for varying the position of said pivoted 25 8. A control-mechanism as in claim 6, said;

able with said casing, a lever mechanism movable by movement of said trackway, a rod shaft rotatable by said levermechanism, a link block mounted in saidlink and pivotally connected to said valve stem, and a second lever mechanism connecting said rodnshaft and said linklblock,

said link being secured to a fixedpivot at one 9. A control mechanism controlled means comprising a bell-crank, means for rotating said bell-crank, means f orf connecting said bell-crank to saidcasing, means for corias in claim 6, said end, and being secured to said connecting means,

v at its other end. a

meeting the other end of said bell-crank to one end of said link, and said means connectingsaid link and said eccentric shaft being joined to the WILHELM RIEGER; 

